Billet and bloom grooving machine



Sept. 5, 1933.

L. C. REIS BILLET AND BLOOM GROOVING MACHINE Filed May 14, 9 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept 5 .119330 L. c. REIS 159259499 BILLET AND BLOOM GROOVING MACHINE Filed May 14, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 BILLET AND BLOOM GROOVING mcxmm Filed y 14, 1930 5 Shams-Shem:

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Patented Sept. 5, 1933 UNITED STATES BILLET AND 131.com GROOVING MACHINE Louis 0. Role; Duluth, Minn.

Application May 14, i930. Serial No. 452,508

6 Claims. (01. 90-24) 1 The invention relates to grooving machinery and the like, which have for their-purpose the removing or grooving out of seams, imperfections and similar surface defects from round billets or rectangular blooms.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of pressure operated movable heads which will grip the work-piece between them and present the same to a cutting tool while simultaneously rotating the work-piece whereby spiral seams and the like can also be removed.

' A further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustable positioning mechanism whereby work-pieces, upon being fed to the mechanism, can be accurately located in position for engagement by the movable heads.

A yet iurther object of the present invention is to provides. tool frame assembly which will employa plurality of roller bearings in combination with a cutting tool, the bearings functioning to take the thrust of the billet thus giving a bearing point for the cutting tool to work against.

With these and various other objects in view, the invention may consist of certain novel features of construction and operation, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the specification, drawings and claims appended hereto. V

In the drawings, which illustrate an embodiment of the device and wherein like reference characters are used to designate like parts- Figure 1 is a plan view of a billet grooving machine constructed'in accordance with the present, invention;

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the same;

Figure ,3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a detail view showing a work piece positioned by means of the thrust bearing slides; Figure 7 is a detail sectional view showingthe mounting for the cutting tool;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of Figure 4;

Figure 9 is a plan view of the thrust bearing rest and adjustable slides;

Figure 10 is a. sectional view taken along line io 1c of Figure 9; Figure 11 is a detail plan view or the am; 4 v

Figure 12 is a. sectional view showing the construction for securing the disk to the pusher arm;

pusher and 13 is a fragmentary sectional view sho the'ement employed for operating the valves for admitting'the pressure medium to the various cylinders.

Referring to the drawings, especially to Figure 1, the device is shown as comprising a. base plate 10 to which is secured at its right hand end supports 12, having uprights 13 to which are secured by any suitable means auxiliary pressure cylinders '14 and 15 respectively, of the double acting type, and a single acting pressure cylinder 16 located substantially centrally of the auxiliary cylinders. At the left hand end of the base 10 are secured supports 17, having uprights 18 which serve to centrally locate a double acting pressure cylinder 20. Located immediate of the supports 12 and 17 and adjacent the former are a plurality of spaced guideways 21, which are provided on their upper surface with V-shaped tracks 22. Located adjacent the supports 17 are a plurality of upstanding flanges 23 provided with The auxiliary pressure cylinders 14 and 15 are provided with plungers 27 and, 28 as is also the single acting cylinder 16, which is provided with a plunger 30. It is to be noted that the single acting cylinder 16 is of substantially larger diameter than the auxiliary cylinders and is therefore provided with a plunger of correspondingly larger size than the plungers 27 and 28. ihe three plungers mentioned are securely attached by a suitable means to a. pusher head 31, see Figure 3, which is provided with grooved wheels 32 to ride on the V-shaped tracks 22 and is also provided with depending arms 33 equipped with rollers 34 for location within grooves 35. This construction allows the head 31 to have reciprocating movement upon the guideways 21 while the rollers 34 locked within grooves 35 serve to prevent the head from leaving the tracks. Located on one side of the pusher head 31 is a. bracket 36 which serves to support in position power means in the form of an electric motor 37. The shaft 38 of the motor 37 is provided with a worm gear 39, which meshes with a gear 9 I wheel 40 located within a housing41 provided on the head. Secured to the gear wheel 40 and thus adapted to have rotating movement in accordance with the rotations of the motor shaft '38 is a" pusher arm 42. As more clearly shown in Figure 12, the arm is provided with a disk 43, having projections 44. The disk i3 is purposely made smaller in diameter than the body portion 0! the arm 42.and is secured to the arm by meansot a coil spring 45 and locking bolt 46. The disk is also provided with ribs 47 which fit into sockets provided on the pusher arm. The

construction in combination with the backing spring serving to allow flexibility of the disk without allowing it to rotate independently.

The cylinder 20 is likewise provided with a plunger which has its free, end attached to a second pusher head 51. The head 51, as shown in Figure 5, is mounted for reciprocating movement by means of a plurality of rollers 52, which are located within grooves 53. The grooves 53 are provided in longitudinally extending members 5 which are located above the tapered rollers 24' and secured in position by being fastened at one end to uprights 55 and at their other end to the frame 25. Depending from head 51 is a pusher arm 57 having a removable pivoted end 58 which sets in the and oil the billet in much the same manner as the dlslr d3 embeds in the opposite end of the billet. By the construction of the grooves 53 and rollers 52, an overhead carriage assembly is provided for the pusher arm 5'7 which allows the same to reciprocate longitudinally of the base in much the same manner as the pusher head 31 reciprocates by means of the rollers 32 and tracks 22. it is therefore seen that it is only necessary to locate the billet between the pusher arms 42 and 57 and by applying varying pressures to the various cylinders described, the billet can be caused to have reciprocating movement relative to the frame 25 which carries a cutting tool to be presently described.

On the outer face of the frame 25 guides 60 are provided upon which are located a block. 61 which carries at its lower end a cutting tool 62 positioned on a second block 63 by means of bolts 64. The block 63 is provided with dove-tail flanges as clearly shown in Figure 8, which serve to allow vertical adjustment of the cutting tool 62 in relation to the block 61. This vertical adjustment of the cutting tool is accomplished by means of the threaded rod 65 rotated by handle 66. The bloclr 61 by reason of its mounting on the guides 60 has horizontal adjustment which is accomplished by the threaded rod 55 rotated by handle 68. Bearings 69 serve to journal the ends of the rod 67 upon the face of the frame 25. Universal adjustment of the cutting tool (82 is therefore possible by the above construction since by rotation of the threaded rod 67 the cutting tool can be adjusted horizontally and by rotation of the threaded rod 65 the same can be adjusted vertically.

One of the features of the present invention is the provision of means for taking the thrust oi 1 the billet as the same is rotated and fed longitudinally with respect to the cutting tool and for this purpose a plurality of slides '70 are provided adjustably secured to base '71 which is located adjacent the frame 25 and directly below the cutting tool 62. The slides 7c are provided with members '72 having at their forward end thrust bearings '73. The slides '70 are rendered adjustable in a horizontal direction by means of threaded rods 74% journaled in the bearings '75 and adapted to be rotated by means of handles 76.

The portion of the base 71 located between the slides '10 and which is directly beneath the cutting tool s2 is provided in a manner similar to the slide with a plurality of bearing members 7'7 as clearly shown in Figure 9. These thrust bearing members; are spaced a suficient distance so that on locating a round billet or similar accuses members 73 located in the adjustable slides '10.

It is thus seen that the construction allows various sizes of billets to be located in operative position with respect-to the cutting tool as the slides 1'70 can be adjusted so that the bearings 73 will have engagement with the upper surface of the billets irrespective of their size.

Located immediately to the right of the adjustable slides 70 is a resilient bar rest '18 provided with .a cut-out portion which bar is supported upon the guideways 21 by means of the resilient coil springs 81. This bar rest'serves to center the billet or work piece before the same is presented to the cutting tool and also allows enough freedom of movement to rotate the billets for inspection. In connection with the resilient bar rest the present device provides an adjustable positioning member, reference being had to Figure 3, which comprises a supporting head 82, provided with 21. depending rack bar 83. Therack bar is associated with a member 84 having rollers 85 running in grooves 86 provided in the base 10. Alsoassociated with the member 84 is a rod' 8'7 provided with a pinion 88 having meshing engagement with the rack bar. The rod 87 has its free end projecting through a horizontal slot 89 and is provided with an operating handle 90. By rotation of the handle 90 the head 82 can be elevated or lowered as desired and the member 84, which functions as a carrying means for the head can be adjusted horizontally by reason of the rollers 85 and slot 89. It is necessary to lower the head82 when the billet has been gripped by the pusher arms, since forward movement of the head 31 to present the billet to the cutting tool would interfere with the positioning head 82 um less the same were in lowered position.

The pressure cylinders described are designed for operation by means of any suitable pressure means which may comprise a hydraulic medium or compressed air. Referring to Figure 13 the pressure medium is applied to pipe 91 which has connection to, pipe 92, the latter conducting the pressure medium to valves 93 and 94 respectively. Valve 93 has supply pipe 95 for conducting the medium to the connection 96 which in turn supplies the same to the rear of the auxiliary cylinders 14- and 15 as well as to the central cylinder 16. Valve 94 is likewise provided with a supply pipe 9'7, which will serve-to supply the pressure to the front of the auxiliary cylinders only. Each valve is provided with exhaust pipes 98. Gear wheels 100 and 101 serve to operate the valves 93 and 94 respectively by means of handle '102 and it is therefore seen that rotation of gear 100 in the required direction will serve to admit the pressure medium to supply pipe 95 and thus to through the exhaust pipe 98. Rotation of gear 100 in the opposite direction will of course reverse the operation and serve to admit pressure medium to the front of the auxiliary cylinders only, exhausting the contents from the rear of the cylinder through valve 93.

Pipe 92 also has connection with a second set of valves 103 and 104, which serve to admit the pressure medium to supply pipes 105 and 106. The pipe 105 has connection with the front end of the pressure cylinder 20 while pipe 106 is connected to the rear end of the cylinder. Gear wheels 107 and 108 which have meshing engagement with each other serve to operate the valves front or rear end of the cylinder as desired-exhausting the contents of the cylinder through the exhaust pipe 109 in much the same manner as described with the operation of valves 93 and 9e. Billets aresupplied to the machine from the table 110 which, by actuation of the stops 111 will deposit a billet between the guideways 21 whereupon the same will rest upon the supporting head 82. The billet or work-piece designated X in Figures 1 and 2 is then elevated by means of the rack bar 83 through actuation of handle 90 until its forward end is located upon the resilient rest 78. The, work-piece is now in a position to be engaged by the pusher arms 42 and 5'7 respectively, which operation is accomplished by admitting pressure to the rear of the various cylinders. With the work-piece thus suspended between the pusher arms the motor 37 can be started so as to rotate the same while it is inspected for surface defects and imperfections;

The operation of grooving out these defects is accomplished by reciprocating the work-piece with respect to the cutting tool. For this pressure is admitted to the single acting cylinder 16 which causes movement of the work-piece in a direction towards the left as viewed in Figure 1. Previously to this it is necessary to operate the adjustable slides '70 so that the thrust members '73 have engagement with the billet. This serves to hold the billet rigid but allows the same to have reciprocating movement in accordance with the actuations of the pressure cylinders. To groove out a defect in the billet it is only necessary to lower the cutting tool and as the work-piece is being reciprocated towards the left the defect is quickly removed. For removing spiral-seams and the like the work-piece can be rotated and simultaneously given movement towards the left. After the entire surface of the billet has been inspected and the defects grooved out, the billet is located directly over the tapered rollers 34 and by causing the pusher members to separate through regulation of the pressure to the cylinders, the billet will bedropped upon the rollers and deposited in position for removal by the operator.

It is to be understood that]: do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of thedevice shown, which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various and other forms of the devicewill of course be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a billet and bloom grooving machine, the combination with a cutting tool, of opposed pressure cylinders located on the opposite sides of said cutting tool, pusher heads mounted for re ciprocation and located on the respective sides of the tool, each of said heads being operatively connected to one of said pressure cylinders, and elevating means for positioning a-work piece between the heads to be engaged and supported thereby, said heads operating to reciprocate the work piece with respect to the cutting tool when the pressures in said cylinders are unbalanced.

2. In a billet and bloom grooving machine, the combination with a cutting tool, of opposed pressure cylinders located on the opposite sides of said cutting tool, pusher heads mounted for reciprocation and located on the respective sides of the tool, each 01 said heads being operatively connected to one of said pressurecylinders, means on one of said heads having rotation independently of its reciprocation, and elevating means for pcsitioning a work piece between the heads to be engaged and supported thereby, whereby said work piece may be rotated by rotation of said means and reciprocated with respect to the cutting tool by unbalancing the pressures in said cylinders.

3. In a billet and bloom grooving machine, the combination with a cutting tool, of opposed pressure cylinders located on the opposite sides of said cutting tool, pusher heads mounted for reciprocation and located on the respective sides of the tool, each of said heads being operatively connected to one of said pressure cylinders, means on one of said heads having rotation independently of its reciprocation, and elevating means for positioning a work piece between the heads to be engaged and rotatably supported thereby,.

whereby said work piece may be rotated and may be reciprocated with respect to the cutting tool by unbalancing the pressures in said cylinders, and thrust bearings associated with the cutting tool for contacting the work piece to support the same for the cutting operation.

4. In a billet and bloom grooving machine, the combination with a cutting tool, of opposed pressure cylinders located on the opposite sides of said tool, a reciprocating pusher head associated with each cylinder and operated thereby, means provided on said heads for engaging a work piece, one of said means having rotation independently of its reciprocation, whereby said heads may rotate a work piece while supporting the same for reciprocation with respect to the cut ting tool, and supporting means for mounting the pusher heads respectively, one of said mounting means being supported in elevatedposition tool, a reciprocating pusher head associated with each cylinder and operated thereby, means provided on said heads for engaging a work piece, one of said means having rotation independently of its'reciprocation, whereby said heads may rotate the work piece while supporting the same for reciprocation with respect to the cutting tool, elevated supporting means suspending one of said heads for reciprocating movement, and rollers located below said supporting means and extending the length of the same for receiving and discharging the work piece upon release of the same by the heads.

6. Ina billet and bloom grooving machine, the combinatio with a cutting tool. of opposed Dressure cylinde 5 located on the opposite sides of said cutting tool, a pair of pusher heads each mounted .ror reciprocating movement and operatively conwhile suspended, one of said heads having rotatably mounted means engaging the work piece,

power means carried by said head for rotating said rotatably mounted means, and means controlling the admission of a pressure fluid to said cylinders.

LOUIS C. REIS. 

